Commercial Finance People, contributors to the REC and KPMG ‘report on jobs’, comments on the continued growth of permanent placements in the invoice finance and leasing finance sectors

The survey reports that the number of people placed in permanent jobs increased for a twenty-second consecutive month in May, although the rate of expansion of placements slowed to the weakest since October 2010.

“Within invoice finance and leasing finance, the trend in vacancies is very much upwards – and we expect to see the trend in placements in these two of our specialist sectors continue to grow as these funders increase the level of finance they provide to SMEs within UK PLC” said John Peters, Commercial Finance People director.

He went on to say “However, the increase in demand for good people is revealing a potential skills gap. There are currently some excellent job opportunities in the invoice finance/ABL and leasing sectors. However, with confidence fragile, many talented people are reluctant to consider their next career move, with the result that finding people who can ‘hit the ground running’ is even harder than normal.  Skills shortages and transferable skills are set to become industry issues as the economy continues to recover.”

Weaker rise in candidate availability

Although the availability of candidates to fill permanent and temporary jobs improved further in May, in both cases the pace of growth eased since the previous month.

Availability of permanent staff

Recruitment consultants signalled a rise in the availability of permanent staff for the fourth month running in May. However, the rate of improvement was only marginal and slightly weaker than in April.

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Report on Jobs contributed by Markit